The Prelude to Murder Analysis
I received new information from Mikiya. At the fifth murder scene, the button from our school had been found. At the sixth, there had been a fragment of flesh, and the killer’s arm had been deeply gouged out near the elbow.
Everything I had heard so far, including the news reports, pointed to one profile: the perpetrator wore a kimono, stood at the average height of a woman, was connected to our school, had short hair, and bore a scar on his left arm.
I looked back at Shiki. Her kimono’s wide sleeves had let a sliver of her bandaged wrist show, and her height was not so different from the other girls in our class. The kimono was her signature, the school was the same, and that androgynous hair was one of her greatest charms.
A normal person would have already picked up the phone. How was it possible that someone who matched the killer’s description exactly had to be standing right beside me?
I sighed. Shiki had disappeared onto the rooftop. She had looked displeased, but I already knew the reason.
She had told me, “Don’t come closer. If you do, I’ll kill you.” Even after she drew that line, I still followed. Maybe she was just irritated with me.
What Shiki had overlooked was this: such things had always been something I unconsciously perceived, and I was so familiar with it that it almost felt like a second nature.
A lie about killing never worked on me. That was my ability.
I followed her onto the rooftop.
I stood beside Shiki, who was crunching on a sandwich, leaning against the railing and scanning the surroundings. Our eyes met. When I smiled and waved, she shook her head instead.
“…How exactly did you predict it down to the last detail?”
“Oh? So I’m easy to read after all?”
Shiki chose silence. That remark had left me feeling uneasy.
To clear the heavy atmosphere, I needed a different topic. Nothing beat the weather.
“Yeah, January is cold.”
“I like it here. If you want to change, just go to Akagawa.”
“I don’t care where I go as long as it’s with you.”
“Why do you keep…”
Shiki’s whisper vanished into the winter wind.
“What did you say?”
“I asked why Akagawa is so guarded.”
That made me angry. Shiki was terrible at hiding her emotions. I didn’t know if it was because she didn’t care about others or if she was simply honest, but if I could see every side of Shiki’s feelings, I would have been happy.
“Guarded… That’s the first time I’ve heard that evaluation.”
“It must have been out of consideration for you.”
I wanted to laugh, yet laughter kept rising. Shiki’s teasing had been even cuter because it was so sincere.
“Shiki. Are you mad?”
“…Do what you want.”
The heart of a woman. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn’t.
“I don’t get it. I get nervous when I’m with Akagawa. Why do you keep coming at me? Why don’t you change your attitude even though you called yourself ‘Shiki’? I don’t understand the reason.”
“The reason…”
Then yesterday’s incident flashed back into my mind. I had read Shiki’s emotions with my “eyes” without permission. I still hadn’t apologized.
“Shiki. I’m really sorry about what happened yesterday. I read your emotions without asking.”
Shiki’s eyes widened. A camera would have been nice. I would have bet my life that a photo of Shiki in shock would fetch a million yen easily.
“Why are you apologizing?”
She sounded genuinely curious.
“Not just yesterday. Last year on the rooftop, I knew about your murderous impulses too. I let it go without a word. I knew how much you suffered because of your excessive personality. That was a part of you, and I bear responsibility for invading your secret without permission.”
“I heard Akagawa used his ability to read people’s hearts even before coming to Mifune. Doesn’t that make you feel sorry for them? Why only me?”
“U…”
“Why?”
Did I really have to say it? It felt too soon. No. I had once calmly done far more embarrassing things. Could I… say it now?!
Shiki looked at me as if she wanted to see every single pore on my face. She had never stared at me like this before.
“That’s…”
“What?”
I didn’t know. The dice had been thrown. No matter what, I couldn’t change the outcome on my own hand. Words couldn’t be taken back either. The closer Shiki came, the more confused my head became. My head grew hot. The cold weather of January failed to calm it.
I clenched my fist. I focused on the girl in front of me and exhaled. Then I took a deep breath and shouted.
“I like you!!”
“S-Such a son of a… I’m leaving first, Shiki!!!”
Akagawa left like that, face flushed with embarrassment, without hiding a thing, striding off boldly.
It was strange. The man who had once said such harsh things without batting an eye now blushed and wanted to run just because of one sentence he himself had uttered. If I hadn’t seen Akagawa’s face, I would have thought it was mere skillful acting.
But it wasn’t acting. The words “I like you.” The phrase Akagawa once said to me resurfaced. I had thought love was a meaningless line with no connection to me.
Love.
How foolish a man he was. Such a thing didn’t exist for me. It was meaningless words.
“Ah, Ryougi-san! Lunch break is almost over…”
“Why, class rep? Aren’t you supposed to close the windows now?”
“Look over there.”
The girl sat alone on the rooftop. She slowly chewed on the words of a clumsy boy, unaware of the smile on her own face.
“Beautiful…”
A faint giggle escaped, the kind a child receives as a Christmas present. It was the smile a girl that age would wear.